Tourism

Tourism was one of the brightest spots of the economy in the 1980s
as, depending on bauxite output in a given year, it became the first or
second leading foreign exchange earner. Net earnings from tourism nearly
doubled in the first six years of the decade, reaching US$437 million in
1986. Tourist arrivals increased 53 percent over the five-year period
from 1981 to 1985. Hotel occupancy rates rose from 41.5 percent in 1981
to the 70-percent range in 1986 and early 1987.

Jamaica's appeal to tourists came from its scenic beauty, warm
climate, and white sand beaches, as well as the warmth of its people.
The island's proximity to the large North American tourist market was
another advantage. An expensive government advertisement campaign,
beckoning American tourists to "come back to Jamaica," as well
as more cruise ship stopovers spurred tourist development in the early
1980s. Jamaica ranked second only to the Bahamas as the preferred
vacation location for American tourists in the Caribbean. Direct
employment in tourist hotels increased from 9,527 in 1980 to 13,619 in
1985. Although this employment represented only a small percentage of
the total work force, the industry indirectly created numerous service
jobs in restaurants, transport, entertainment, and crafts.

Tourism began in Jamaica in the 1890s, when the United Fruit Company,
seeking to use the excess capacity of its ships, encouraged cruises to
Jamaica, and tourist hotels were constructed on the island. Tourism,
however, did not flourish until after World War II, when accelerated
depreciation allowances for investment in that sector helped to triple
the number of hotels from 1945 to 1970. Further hotel incentive
legislation in 1968 continued to transform the industry, eventually
strengthening the role of larger hotels. After a twenty-year period of
growth, tourism slumped in the mid-1970s for a variety of reasons,
ranging from radical domestic policies to negative press coverage
abroad. In the 1980s, the tourist market was recaptured, and it expanded
more quickly than the rest of the economy. American tourists were
believed to be traveling more often to the Caribbean as a result of
growing terrorism in Europe. In addition, Jamaica became particularly
attractive as numerous devaluations of the Jamaican dollar made United
States dollars more valuable. The number of European tourists was also
expected to increase in the 1980s, following the decline in value of the
United States dollar, to which the Jamaican currency was pegged.

Jamaica recorded 846,716 visitor arrivals in 1985. Stop-over visitors
numbered 571,713 and cruise ship passengers totalled 261,508. Some
13,495 servicemen also visited the island, many of whom were United
States soldiers from the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Ninety
percent of all tourists in Jamaica originated in North America, with
about 75 percent coming from the United States. Europeans and Latin
Americans made up the remaining 10 percent. Canadians and Europeans
tended to stay longer than Americans, whose average stay was roughly one
week. Although Jamaican citizens received discounted hotel rates, costs
remained too high for most Jamaicans.

Jamaican tourism was quite diversified, ranging from camping in the
Blue Mountains, to small beach houses in Negril, to large tourist hotels
in Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. The country's room capacity exceeded
11,000 rooms, served by over 700 hotels and various other guest houses.
Most large hotels were foreign owned, whereas the majority of smaller
hotels were locally owned. In the 1980s, the government divested
numerous hotels that were purchased by the government in the 1970s.

Since 1956 the tourist industry has been regulated by the Jamaican
Tourist Board (JTB) which greeted tourists, provided courtesy police,
trained workers, set standards, and promoted Jamaican tourism both at
home and abroad. One of the largest problems that the JTB faced in the
1980s was the continued harassment of tourists. Most harassment stemmed
from frequent peddling of goods to tourists, at times incessantly; this
peddling most likely reflected the high unemployment rates. Tourists
were also approached to purchase drugs, primarily marijuana,
colloquially called "ganja."

Another issue for the JTB and tourist industry in the 1980s was
whether to allow casino gambling, which would probably attract tourists.
Largely as a result of strong church lobbying, casino gambling
legislation had never been enacted, and it remained doubtful that it
ever would be.

Although most Jamaicans were favorable toward tourism, certain
sectors of society frowned on it for its perceived negative moral
influences. Others doubted its contributions to the economy, given both
the large percentage of imported goods used in the industry and the
prominent role of foreigners.